Since the one in metal discussion seems to be going rather well, I thought I'd give this a try. We've actually done this before on the board, but I felt that maybe with some more structure/better organisation, this one might last longer.

The way this operates is simple: each poster contributes a song, after commenting on the one put forward by the previous poster. In order to make this work, I'd like to suggest some basic rules:

1. Write something substantial. Certainly doesn't have to be several paragraphs of gushing or defilement, but "this is cool!" will simply not suffice. Also, if you can't be bothered to listen to the whole song, don't bother to post. This isn't about snapshots. If you find yourself listening to something deplorable that you can only stand for thirty seconds, let somebody else tackle it.

2. If you want to discuss a certain piece of music or its artist after the initial review is given, put this behind spoiler tags, so that not everybody has to see it. It'd help if you wrote down prior to the spoiler tag what your post is about so that the relevant parties will click.

3. Do not post the name of the song or artist you are putting up for discussion in the thread...only the link. Do post the name and artist of the previous song posted, so that people will know what it is you are reviewing. Do not review your own posted song!

4. To avoid double posts, I suggest putting a "placeholder" post before your review, stating that you're going to tackle a song. Don't put up a placeholder and then leave the thread for a day, for fuck's sake...if you haven't replaced the placeholder with your review within an hour, the thread ought to be able to move on. We'll see if this idea works...

5. Since this is the "un-metal edition", basically, anything that isn't metal goes. However, I would suggest the following:

Don't troll the thread by posting music that you think is awful, just for the laughs. It'll get boring and stupid really fast.

Don't post really long songs. This shouldn't need to be said, but it's not really fair to expect somebody to take the time and energy to listen to a fifteen minute piece of unknown music and then write about it. While I wouldn't be too strenuous about it, I'd say that if something you want to post is over nine minutes long, consider carefully if there isn't some shorter piece that would be better suited to introduce people to this particular artist.

Finally, the object of this thread isn't to show what a bunch of well-rounded and open-minded metalheads we all are, but instead to introduce people to new artists, or to have a glimpse at styles of music they perhaps wouldn't normally bother with.

So, to begin...something more-or-less random from my collection that I've been listening to loads lately:

I like this a lot! My only experience with Scott Walker is his super dark and experimental "The Drift" which certainly left an impression on me, but I didn't expect this! The bass line is groovy as hell and sticks out a lot, the guitars are pretty simple (reggae sounding?) and are mostly dominated by the synths and other touches. Scott is a great singer and he carries this song, especially his cool little acrobatics at the end (is that scatting?) with a nice old school feel. I've got some digging to do.

Never really got into the metal version, but I've been following it off and on and it seems like an exciting idea.

Necroticism174 wrote:

Deadboy & the Elephantmen - Otherwordly Dreamer

This is pretty soothing stuff, not sure how to classify it, but I get a strong feel of goth rock and post... well, post-something. Starts off real slow with dreamy, I suppose rather "otherwordly" (get it?) and somewhat, in a good way, wishy-washy guitars. Dax Riggs' vocals are a clear stand-out and obvious highlight here, throughout the entire song he displays a pretty sweet range and control of his voice, really adding to the ambient and the rocky quality at the same time. After a while the song turns heavier and a bit more... one might say psychadelic, without losing the ambience, showing incredibly variation and boldness in songwriting and keeping me interested and slowly nodding my head throughout. I'm really liking this, and I'd definitely come back to it whenever I need something more soothing and relaxing, the kind of thing that takes you to another world.

I'm pretty new to his stuff myself, but I've really been captured. This song here is from the late 60s, and so far this is my favourite of his albums. I do have The Drift too though, and it's definitely far more twisted and, well, strange. This man's a really cool artist, I think. And yeah, those basslines rule!

_________________Hush! and harkTo the sorrowful cryOf the wind in the dark.Hush and hark, without murmur or sigh,To shoon that tread the lost aeons:To the sound that bids you to die.

I'm glad you liked it! That record is very near and dear to me and Dax Riggs is my favourite artist. It's the kind of thing that I don't understand how someone can possibly not like it.Also, that's some damn good psytrance.

Following oneyoudontknow's suggestion, I've come up with a way to avoid double posts in this thread; might want to consider implementing this in the metal one as well. See the OP. And now, I'm going to take nightmare's song.

Xenomorph: "Antimatter"

Luckily, this is just the sort of trance (I think that's what it is...) that I like. Not very focussed on the basic percussion, but instead using it as a backbone for all sorts of cool noises and effects shooting all over the place. The opening sample is very familiar....could it be from Carpenter's Prince of Darkness...and suggests something rather threatening to come. We get a steady thunking beat that never alters, and many different sounds firing across the stereo channels, some of which sound like stuff breaking, others reminiscent of something being dragged forcefully. The samples all seem to be from horror and scifi movies and are very suggestive. Just after seven minutes there's an abrupt mood change with the introduction of some new, bassy sounds and a heavier down-beat, and we get our second major tension buildup, which also brings out a little bit more melody and some interesting and eerie choral synth sounds. "He's waiting on the other side". Cool...might look into this.

Awesome song. First Utterance is such a kick ass record. This song has a creep, lurching sort of bass line that reminds me a lot of Tull for some reason. It also brandishes some seriously creepy vocals - a chorus of goblins it sounds like to me. It has this wonderfully dense and sickening atmosphere - the sonic equivalent of flies swarming around a rotted carcass. I always dug Comus for these reasons. This is probably one of my least favorites on First Utterance, but that's not to say it's not great. That whole album rules so hard. Very freaky ass folk-prog. A hairier, scarier version of Tull.

Finally... Honestly, since years I've always wanted to check out Goldfrapp but always forgot about it when I had the possibility to do so. While I had read about them (her) quite a bit all I so to say "knew" of was that the music was generally somehow electronic. And yes it is electronic - however not in the way I assumed it to be. I expected some kind of synth-poppy stuff with a twist. But this song is definitely so much more. It's somehow broad, epic, soothing and charming at the same time. It reminds me totally of the music on Air's "Moon Safari" and this is to be seen as a big plus. Really a great song and I will play this more than once this evening after finishing this post. Possibly also going to check my 2nd hand CD store tomorrow for the album this song is from. Thanks

@ grauer_mausling: Unfortunately for the universe, Felt Mountain is the only remotely good album Goldfrapp ever put out. All of their other shit is just that: thin, faceless, poppy electronica. Horrible, really. But Felt Mountain is a gem. A true 100%. Every song on that album is just as wonderful as Pilots. You will not regret picking it up. It is sad to me that musicians capable of such marvels have now resorted to such shite. And yes, Air's 'Moon Safari' is another killer album, save for a few poopy tracks.

I will review it instead. Marillion (with Fish at the very least) is all about bitter sweet melancholy. The fact that they have a song called Bitter Suite only makes it more hilarious. Don't get me wrong, they used to be one of my favourite bands. But that was a long time ago. Genesis, yes, any time, and any era. But Marillion? They're not bad, but I wouldn't listen to them any more at all.

Not sure that was even a review, but it's my opinion on the song and the band.

Aha, cool that you know this! Of course, I do hope that someone not as knowledgeable gets a good listen and likes this as much as we do! I agree with your assessment...they have that wild, celebratory, pagan feeling to their music, like some kind of rite to Pan. I love it, and this song is actually one of my favourites on the album, precisely because it's so delightfully catchy in such a twisted, devillish kind of way. That bassline rules so much and the whole thing's like a musical accompaniment to a crazed dervish. Great lyrics, too.

We're doing all right here...though Antoine, you should have done Mouser's song! Now I'll do Antoine's...

_________________Hush! and harkTo the sorrowful cryOf the wind in the dark.Hush and hark, without murmur or sigh,To shoon that tread the lost aeons:To the sound that bids you to die.

Dreamy, sedate and rather pieaceful, this song. The percussion was a steady trip-hop-like loop and there wasn't much in the way of dynamics, except for a brief drum-less interlude marking the point at which the violin took more of a central role in proceedings. The violin was the best part fo the song, I think, and the lines were quite beautiful. The vocals were a sort of high, soft tone that reminded me somewhat of Radiohead..I'm not a fan and I didn't really get much from this singing, either. I don't know if I'd come back to this band but it was a reasonably enjoyable experience.

Dreamy, sedate and rather pieaceful, this song. The percussion was a steady trip-hop-like loop and there wasn't much in the way of dynamics, except for a brief drum-less interlude marking the point at which the violin took more of a central role in proceedings. The violin was the best part fo the song, I think, and the lines were quite beautiful. The vocals were a sort of high, soft tone that reminded me somewhat of Radiohead..I'm not a fan and I didn't really get much from this singing, either. I don't know if I'd come back to this band but it was a reasonably enjoyable experience.

klezmer/balkan/arabic inspired pop music infused w/ hip-hop vocals and roaring bass lines. high energy. mixes the old traditions w/ a modern feel. the inclusion of brass really adds excitement imo. a very fun tune.

@Di3inpain: you seem to got it wrong a bit. Abominatrix was faster than you to review Metantoine's song and as such was the next to post for us others to review. Besides that if you post a clip to review don't write band name, genre or any other information. Just the link. As such is a bit more suprising for the ones clicking on it.

Never had heard of this band before but when seeing (unvoluntarily though) the comments on youtube where Goblin was mentioned I thought I knew what was about to come. I don't know Goblin really good but I do enjoy the music of US band Zombi who were said to be very influenced by them. But again - like with Goldfrapp - it came other than expected. Instead of some kind of pushing bass, drums and synth driven sound, Morte Macabre come along very peaceful and calm with mainly just using subtle guitar pickings, piano and mellotron as well as some kind of "quiet" drums in the background. The track then slowly builds up to reach it's peak in the last third of the song with gaining a lot more in terms of drive and wall-like-volume. Very good track and I think I'll have to check some more stuff of these guys.

Well, I am currently writing on an all-female punk/noise rock band, so I thought I will share my thoughts on this one as well. I would have been surprised about the origins, would The Sounds call the UK their home. Does not feel it could come from there, even though the music has a bit of the vibe. Queen of Apology has some nice drive and the play of the keyboards is quite neat. Even though it has been released in 2006, it could actually have been released some years earlier. I wonder whether how the rest of the album sounds. For my taste this is a bit too shallow and could have been a bit dirtier or nastier; a bit too streamlined and nice.

The Sounds are a swedish band but they surely sound like 80s infl. wave pop/punk. Very early Kim Wilde is nearly omnipresent in their sound (Kids of America stuff, yeah, you know).Oh, the two minutes of silence are possibly a mistake by the youtube uploader. The rest of the album is more or less in the same way as Queen of Apology in terms of sound and production. Maybe their first album is a bit more to your liking then. It's not that much dirtier but a slight bit more biting. However the production still is quite polished. Here's a song from it:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=052YPfZv_Mwbtw - live The Sounds totally kick ass!!!

Little Somebody Family - All things riseI've never heard of this band before and this genre isn't quite what I listen to from day to day but I really enjoyed this song. The song doesn't change much pace throughout it's length but doesn't need to anyway. It's a very haunting, almost enchanting melody and the soft gentle words from the vocalist really gives you that tranquill vibe. Very enjoyable and relaxing. In places it kinda reminds me of a female Simon and Garfunkel, that's never a bad thing

Pure Reason Revolution - The Intention CraftDude, this is awesome. Straight from the start, we've got a great riff that swoops into an amazing duet and an absolutely hooking melody. This is how to do duel vocals RIGHT. The song is quite simple, but with enough layers to produce some great textures. The piano/vocal bridge and the build up it goes into is great, too. I'm really loving this track. Some really cool, weird stuff happening around the 2.15 mark.

The Snowdroppers - Do The StompThroughly enjoyable slab of punky throwback rock, almost as if the King covered The Melvins. This might be a strained comparison, but to me it resonates with the same retro funk that fuels Willy Moon and Gin Wigmore, two of my favorite throwback poppers. The song is kept fairly short, which is definitely to its benefit, as any longer and it'd feel bloated and drawn-out since there really isn't much substance here. Not that that's a bad thing, of course. Overall, it's a fun tune that'd for sure be a hit at parties with a retro theme. Thanks for it!

I'm glad you enjoyed that. It's actually one of my favourite instrumental "chill" albums, although it can get quite dark at times. Not only are they Goblin influenced; that was actually a GOblin cover! The piece was originally featured in the film Beyond the Darkness and the original consists of piano only, so Morte Macabre really took the cover and made it into their own. I love that melody and played with guitar, the subtle percussion and melotron..it all sounds very grandiose and beautiful. Most of the album is made up of covers BTW; they also cover music from The Beyond, Cannibal Holocaust, City of the Living Dead, Rosemary's Baby and maybe a few others, as well as throwing in a huge 20-minute composition that's all dark melodies and massive noisy crescendos. Good stuff!

_________________Hush! and harkTo the sorrowful cryOf the wind in the dark.Hush and hark, without murmur or sigh,To shoon that tread the lost aeons:To the sound that bids you to die.

@Di3inpain: just saw that I maybe was the one to be wrong. Like I see it now you may also have done Abominatrix' song and I just wrongly assumed that you, too, reviewed Gazpacho. Sorry... Didn't want to add confusion here...

He still did it wrong, not posting the name/artist of my song and doing a review for his own! I'm busy right now, but later on I'll edit the OP to clarify exactly how this should be done for those too lazy to read the other responses to get a good idea of waht's expected.

_________________Hush! and harkTo the sorrowful cryOf the wind in the dark.Hush and hark, without murmur or sigh,To shoon that tread the lost aeons:To the sound that bids you to die.

Is the band name WLT? Absynthe Minded? Anyway, this was some fairly enjoyable..I guess you could call it folk rock, with just a hint of a country influence perhaps. It reminded me of going to Canadian folk gigs with a friend at churches a few years back, or maybe like something you'd hear at a coffeehouse or in some bar that does regular jam nights. The melodies were simple and catchy, and the singing from both men was a sort of husky yet soft tone with, to my mind, a slightly funny-sounding western (perhaps) accent. The vocals were fine, but I guess I would prefer singing with a little more personality or something; they just kind of didnt' evoke a lot of emotion from me. At almost exactly half-way a fiddle joins the acoustic guitars, and while I was surprised it didn't end up playing a more prominent role, the excellent acoustic guitar solo at three minutes was joined by some additional fiddle notes in a very effective way. While I appreciate the qualities of this song, it doesn't exactly get me itching to look up more...but I'd be happy to go to the bar where these guys are playing.

A very catchy 70s rock tune that I haven't heard in years. The snare doesn't miss a single beat, marching out an upbeat pace to carry the whole song through its duration, and coaxes foot tapping for the duration as well. Because it's been so long since I heard it, I found a new appreciation for the instrumentation. Toward the end the sound is more chaotic and, well, psychotic! The bass gives a good groove in the background that provides a layer of subtle melody, while the guitar is hitting those power chords. A classic of 70s rock!

Pure Reason Revolution - The Intention CraftDude, this is awesome. Straight from the start, we've got a great riff that swoops into an amazing duet and an absolutely hooking melody. This is how to do duel vocals RIGHT. The song is quite simple, but with enough layers to produce some great textures. The piano/vocal bridge and the build up it goes into is great, too. I'm really loving this track. Some really cool, weird stuff happening around the 2.15 mark.

Wow, simply beautiful! Who needs a band when you can do it all on your own? This reminds me of Mazzy Star the way the acoustic guitar and voice flow into each other effortlessly. I like how she records herself with a single tap of her foot and makes what was already good, awesome. Been looking for more good female singers to show my wife who recently floored me when she said she thought Katy Perry was the best singer in the world. I wish I had more of this type of music in my collection to listen to when you want to get away from all the noise for a while.

Funny enough I landed on this video now, Why? I could have seen Warpaint in Chicago 2010 Lollapalooza but I had a conflict and had to see another band. This song has that PJ Harvey vibe to it just with a twist of popish indie garage lo-fi rock. I like the noise shoegaze like "trance" it has, sounds in the likes of the new Flaming Lips, My Morning Jacket. As far as lyrics - I suck at understanding lyrics I need to read them first to understand, I cant comment on the lyrics. They are all girls except the drummer who is a guy - reminds me of a band from the 90's that had a videoclip on MTV in which there is a bowling ball rolling and its all girls and the drummer is a guy, I cant remember the name of the band or the song.

Folky, complex and layered, this had my foot tapping. I wasn't sure what to make of it at first, but the chorus is AWESOME. The fiddle-work is superb and gives the song an upbeat circus vibe. The thing about songs that evoke a circus vibe is that they get annoying after a few listens (or right away), but what Katzenjammer has done (probably unintentionally) is the polar opposite. The short length makes this tight little package all the merrier, I've already listened to it twice.

Im not to sure about this song, the electronic beats are definitively fun and easy on the ears. The almost nu-metal rap vocals turn me off of the song. I do love the movie though so it brought back some good memories. 6/10